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Show VISIT TO HOOVER DAM ON COLORADO RIVER IS A MOST WORTHWHILE TRIP By C. WATT BRANDON On Tuesday of last week I had the pleasure of standing at a point where the summit of the Hoover dam at Boulder City will touch, and from this impressive height looking straight down on the Colorado river and the men working on the diversion diver-sion tunnels and sites for the new power plant, where the workmen looked like dolls and the tractors and trucks more like toys. Visitors are not allowed on the workings except by special permit. Leaving Las Vegas the paved road runs a straight line to the hills for about 16 miles, and then winds on top to a point 18 miles away where one is greeted by a ranger who checks you in much the same manner as they do in a national park, no fees required, but a sticker placed on the windshield. This is the only Nevada entrance to that project. You then travel on for about four miles when you are in the heart of Boulder City, a city of beautiful structures with wide paved streets, and then continue on over paved roads for about seven males when you come to a "look-out" point, and leave your car to climb about a thousand feet to the point where workmen are now busy building a flight of stairs down the palisade. From this point you can see the entrance to the two large tunnels on the Arizona side, just above the dam, while below you see the outlet of the two large tunnels tun-nels being built on the Nevada sida, s. as well as the sites where the two large power plants are to be constructed. con-structed. This dam will be 1180 feet long at the crest, about 45 feet wide at the top, and 650 feet thick at the bottom. While the dam is being built, a temporary roek-fUied cofferdam will divert the water from the river through four concrete-lined tunnels, driven through solid rock. The tunnels tun-nels will average about 4000 feet each, the two inner tunnels diverting water to the power plant when the dam is completed, while the two outer out-er ones will be used as spilways. These crews of 40 men each work constantly in each of these tunnels, where a drilling jumble is used for drilling holes about 20 feet in, resulting result-ing in the loosening of about 23 feet of rock each "shot," and resuiring about IS hours to open each 23 feet. These tunnels will be completed in about 30 days, after which a three-foot three-foot concrete wall will be placed for the entire distance in each, after which the cofferdam will be erected and work begun on the base of the clam. An estimate of the time necessary nec-essary to complete the concreting could not be given by the public relations rela-tions department. Railway lines have been constructed construct-ed to carry materials to each supply point, both on top and at the bottom. Boulder City contains about 5,200 people at the present time, while about 3500 men are employed, with many idle in Las Vegas awaiting a call. When construction has been completed this city will probably house around 150 employees of the government, but it is being built for permanency. Among other facts which came to my attention were that the dam and reservoir costs must not exceed $70,-600,000; $70,-600,000; power development, $38,210,-000; $38,210,-000; all-American canal, $38,500,000. About five and one-half million barrels bar-rels of cement will be used. The shore line of the lake will be about 550 miles long. That the annual eva-I eva-I poration will be about 600,000 acre feet. The estimated cost of the building of Boulder City is $2,000,000 all building are of the Spanish type. The city will be under a city manager form of government. The townsite comprises 200 acres and is at an elevation ele-vation of 2500 feet. The fertility of this soil is estimated estimat-ed by the government to raise 7- to 10 tons of alfalfa, one ton to a cutting, 8 to 20 sacks of barley per acre, and 96 crates of cantaloupe per acre, with a 365-day growing season. All citrus fruits, vegetables, gTain, melons, may be grown here. The estimate for the completion of this dam is fixed at about five years from the starting of work. It was a most interesting morning, and it is worth the while of anyone going through Las Vegas to spend at least half a day on the site of the Hoover dam. Visitors are welcomed. |
